Get this. Showaddywaddy have sold more records than anyone else in Britain. And that includes the big guns like Wings, Queen and Abba. But do you know all the members in the group? Or even how many Showaddywaddy number? Shelley Adams gets to grips with our most enduring superstars.
Showaddywaddy are weird. Not wacko weirdos or even odd-ball hereos. But their stardom is kind of....strange. If, that is, it can be called stardom.
Oh sure, they're a big group - bigger than you probably think. In Britain, they've sold more records than any other group, including Abba, Wings and Queen.
Their shows sell out wherever they go and they could probably get round the Top Of The Pops studio blindfold. And yet do you know know the names of all the members? Do you know how many members there are? Would you know them if you met them in the street? Nope? Thought not!
Offstage, Showaddywaddy just seem to blend into the scenery. They shrug off those dazzling stage outfits, hop into their Rolls-Royces and go home to attend their normal everyday business.
Singer, Dave Bartram owns a Nottingham boutique, bassist Rod Deas has a motel, and Malcolm 'The Duke' Allured has opened a new nightclub.
"We're all pretty well off now", says Dave. "But we worked long and hard for our money and we're not about to let it go down the drain. Everyone in the group has a sensible attitude to money - we have proper business meetings to discuss our financial affairs. At one point we were advised to become tax exiles. We even got as far as deciding where we'd live, but in the end we decided it was better to stay in Britain. So we paid up."
And so the group stayed put in Leicestershire, the place where it all began back in 1973. Guitarist Russ Field takes up the tale: "I'd moved from Northumberland to study mechanical engineering at Loughborough University and I met these guys who played in a couple of local groups - 'Choice' and 'The Golden Hammers'. One was a rock 'n' roll group and one played heavier rock, but we all found we had an interest in '50s rock 'n' roll, so we decided to join forces. It all started at a hotel in Leicester. The two groups were playing there seperately, and afterwards we all got on stage together for one big jam. It was great!"
The band's name came from a backing line in an old song called 'Little Darling' by a group called The Diamonds. "It just had the right feel," says Russ.
At that point, all the lads had day jobs - Rod and the Duke were labouring, Al James was a blacksmith, Romeo Challenger worked in a shoe factory, Dave worked in the Post Office and Russ, of course, was studying at University. "By the way", he adds, "I got my degree in between gigs!"
But all those jobs had to be dropped as the group began playing live gigs.
"We found ourselves mor and more in demand", says Russ. "In our first year, we must have played 250-odd gigs - and that's a lot of hard work when you've got no money! Of course, being such a big group made it twice as hard moneywise, but we didn't worry about it. We just struggled on, sleeping in the van, or three or four to a room in some grotty bed & breakfast place. We might be doing okay now, but we've done our share of starving I can tell you!"
Those early gigs were all cabaret shows - partly, the groups say, because cabaret pays better. "We just couldn't afford to do those little clubs that only pay £20 or £30 a might. That would only leave us with a couple of pounds each!"
But the other reason was, quite simply, that the group enjoyed playing cabaret. They've been criticised for it by people who don't like cabaret and its 'scampi and chips' image, but Russ isn't too worried about the knocking.
"We're lucky that we seem to be able to play to all ages", he says. "We've got some great reactions from cabaret audiences - middle aged audiences seem to enjoy it as much as anyone. We still do cabaret today and intend to carry on doing it, no matter what people say. As long as people are having fun, it's alright by us!"
Nevertheless, cabaret clubs are only open to people over 18 and Showaddywaddy did yearn to reach younger people. And that was one of the reasons why they decided to enter the tv talent show, 'New Faces'. They'd already won £1,000 in a competition between various cabaret clubs, so they thought why not have another go.
"I don't think we expected to win the way we did", says Russ, "But it was nice when it happened. I don't think it was our big break though - at least not as far as getting through to younger audiences was concerned. That happened when we brought our first single out next April."
The single was 'Hey Rock 'n' Roll', and it was an instant hit, putting Showaddywaddy up there with other front running groups at the time, like Gary Glitter, Mud and the Rubettes. But they didn't know then that they were to outlive all those other names...
"We didn't know how long it would last, though of course we had high hopes", says Russ. "We just wanted to have fun, and play good-time music. Our stuff was pretty much the same then as it is now - just basically good, simple rock and roll music."
They looked the part all right. They has their own specially designed Ted suits made for them in a variety of stunning colours and, as Buddy explained, "With specially reinforced seams! At first we just wore straight Ted suits, but they just couldn't stand all that leaping about onstage. They would fall apart - luckily the long drape jackets usually covered any embarrassing splits! Then a local tailor saw us onstage and suggested all these reinforced seams - and it worked a treat."
But despite those special clothes, Showaddywaddy were still resented by the "real" Teds, who dislike the way they'd updated old '50s numbers and given them a new 'poppy' treatment.
"Sometimes they'd come along and cause trouble", admits The Duke, "But usually we can win them over. After all, we all basically like the same music and we've got the same heroes - Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly and all those great stars."
"I remember one night, the hall was packed with Teds", says Trevor Oakes, "And we did this routine where some of us jumped offstage into the audience. The only trouble was that when we got back onstage, half the audience got back up as well! The bouncers came along and tried to clear the stage, throwing everyone off who wasn't in the group. The thing was, they couldn't tell us from our audience, and we ended up standing onstage with four members of the band and four complete strangers!"
By now, Showaddywaddy were having regular hit singles plus the odd successful album, and doing whole concert tours of Britain. They'd spent thousands of pounds in improving their stage show, adding new and better sound equipment and adding whole towers of lights.
"One of The Who's roadies gave us the idea", says Russ. "These lights achieve a great effect. There's 12 on each tower and they're on wheels, so you can move them quite easily around the stage. One time though, some fans got onstage and I reckon they must have released the brakes by accident, cos suddenly the whole thing started rolling across the stage towards the audience! We just stood there to the spot while our roadies raced across and jammed on the brakes. Whew!"
By 1976, the group had had eight hits, including their first number on, 'Under The Moon Of Love'. And they'd released an album they were all proud of, 'Trocadero' about an old ballroom in Leicester that Russ remembers going to when he was a kid.
"I'd go along and watch 'Shadows'-type groups, go home and try to copy 'em", he grins. "Hank Marvin was my big hero in those days".
Unfortunately, 'The Troc' as is it was affectionately known had been burnt down by the time the album came out: "We wanted to use a photo of it on the cover", explained Russ, "but we didn't mind too much. We were just really pleased with the album. Somehow, the cover didn't matter too much! The album is closer to what we want to do than anything we've brought out so far", reckoned Russ at the time. "Bringing music to a '70s audience without losing the excitement of the '50s".
And Trevor summed it up: "We're writing much better material now. I think we're just improving all the time!"
It was new year 1977, and suddenly Showaddywaddy found themselves standing almost alone as survivors of the early seventies. Suddenly they were surrounded on all sides by a host of new, raw, exciting groups - The Sex Pistols, The Stranglers, The Damned, The Clash....
"Those groups never worried us", says Russ. "Yes, they were very different to a lot of them, but I liked a lot of them, especially The Stanglers and The Boomtown Rats. They both had something special. But they didn't threaten us at all. Trends don't bother us - we've watched them come and go. There's always room for a group like us, who've just come out to provide simple family entertainment, whatever's going on round about!"
And of course, Russ has been proved right! As we go into the 1980's, the punk era is behind us - as is the glitter era which was in full swing when Russ, Dave, Romeo, Al, Trevor, Buddy, Duke and Rod first burst onto the scene. Britain's most popular rock 'n' rollers are still carrying on....just as strong as ever.
What are their ambitions now? "Just to carry on playing good time music", says Russ. "We'd like to take our music abroad a bit more. We've done okay in Europe, and this year we did a string of dates in Eastern Europe. Now we'd like to break into the Far East - Hong Kong and Japan. I can't wait to see those countries. Not that we're thinking of giving up Britain though - we'd never do that. We love this country, and we've got so many great fans here. Really, things couldn't have worked out much better for us. We're really happy with our lives, our music, our group....if I had my time over again, I don't think I'd change a thing!"
And now, do you know what? I don't think Showaddywaddy would care if they NEVER got recognised in the street!